PIKE: Photos give voice to most marginalized men

"Do you know how to use a 35 mm camera?" It was a logical question to be asked given I was interviewing to be a newspaper reporter with the Hanover Post and my schooling had been in radio broadcasting.

I didn't want to lie but the truth wouldn't land me the job so I responded, likely with an accompanying knee-slap, "My Uncle Jack is a cameraman with CFPL and before that he was a photographer with the London Free Press so if I don't know how to use a 35 mm camera I'll be a big disappointment to him!" Insert a little nervous laughter here and bam — job in hand.

During my first weekend assignment, I was taking shots of the boy scout paper drive after having covered a couple of riveting events the night before when all of a sudden my film wouldn't advance. Seemed kind of jammed so I flipped open the back, exposing the film and possibly the truth I'd hidden in my interview. Thankfully a fellow reporter, Mike "Scoop" Turner, worked some dark room magic to save my burgeoning career.

Decades later I can wield the camera in my iPhone quite deftly and often print some of the better photos to use in my journal with one or two lines of text capturing a piece of my story as I motor through this wild ride of life itself.

Last week, I found a display of pictures and captions downtown trying to do the same thing but from a perspective very different from mine. The photos had all been taken by men in Hamilton who have one thing in common. Each of them has a criminal record.

Using a community-based research method, Photovoice, the men were given cameras to capture something that would give others "a glimpse into what daily life is like and what gives meaning to these men," as the project description notes.

The Evergreen Community Storefront at 294 James Street North, a dynamic (and free!) space for neighbourhood consultations, community meetings, events and cultural use is where the project, "Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men," has been curated through a group process led by Stephanie Zubriski, as part of her Master's degree in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.

A mural of felt provides the background to the snapshots with accompanying words from both individual and collective stories, some as short as two words like, "Pretty, Ugly," depicting a robust community garden in the foreground and the confining, red walls of the Barton Street jail threatening captivity behind.

The creativity, and often wit, of the men is illustrated in many of the photographic essays. I was drawn to a red and ornate Victorian door connected to the words, "Paint it Black," wondering what else it could mean to someone who has spent time behind an ugly door they could not open besides a reference to the great Rolling Stones tune. The photo is connected by yarn to the title for that group, "Make Change."

In the "Pay it Back" section is a shot of an already closed café on Barton Street, Pay it Forward. The hand printed description highlights the need for access to good food in this part of town. "It provides fresh fruit and produce in my neighbourhood. I live in a poor area of the city that needs inexpensive food." It also says to me, this is a man who sees himself connected to community.

The exhibition lets in a little light on what might be needed in order to integrate men with criminal records into community life. Integrate or reintegrate?

In a 2007 report, 'The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention,' Public Safety Canada cautions the reader about the use of the word "reintegration" in this context, "as it should be obvious that, in many instances, the offenders were not prior to their incarceration, successfully integrated into the community."

One section of the mural features the photo of a sticker that says, "Lives Lost to Suicide — RIP." It is connected to two short phrases that may provide the answer to how integration for these guys will come about: "Some People do Care" and "All it takes is Compassion."

Deirdre Pike is a freelance columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. Her columns appear every other Saturday. “Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men,” will be on display at Evergreen for two weeks including the October ArtCrawl. Write dpikeatthespec@gmail.com or @deirdrepike for more information.

PIKE: Photos give voice to most marginalized men

"Do you know how to use a 35 mm camera?" It was a logical question to be asked given I was interviewing to be a newspaper reporter with the Hanover Post and my schooling had been in radio broadcasting.

I didn't want to lie but the truth wouldn't land me the job so I responded, likely with an accompanying knee-slap, "My Uncle Jack is a cameraman with CFPL and before that he was a photographer with the London Free Press so if I don't know how to use a 35 mm camera I'll be a big disappointment to him!" Insert a little nervous laughter here and bam — job in hand.

During my first weekend assignment, I was taking shots of the boy scout paper drive after having covered a couple of riveting events the night before when all of a sudden my film wouldn't advance. Seemed kind of jammed so I flipped open the back, exposing the film and possibly the truth I'd hidden in my interview. Thankfully a fellow reporter, Mike "Scoop" Turner, worked some dark room magic to save my burgeoning career.

Decades later I can wield the camera in my iPhone quite deftly and often print some of the better photos to use in my journal with one or two lines of text capturing a piece of my story as I motor through this wild ride of life itself.

Last week, I found a display of pictures and captions downtown trying to do the same thing but from a perspective very different from mine. The photos had all been taken by men in Hamilton who have one thing in common. Each of them has a criminal record.

Using a community-based research method, Photovoice, the men were given cameras to capture something that would give others "a glimpse into what daily life is like and what gives meaning to these men," as the project description notes.

The Evergreen Community Storefront at 294 James Street North, a dynamic (and free!) space for neighbourhood consultations, community meetings, events and cultural use is where the project, "Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men," has been curated through a group process led by Stephanie Zubriski, as part of her Master's degree in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.

A mural of felt provides the background to the snapshots with accompanying words from both individual and collective stories, some as short as two words like, "Pretty, Ugly," depicting a robust community garden in the foreground and the confining, red walls of the Barton Street jail threatening captivity behind.

The creativity, and often wit, of the men is illustrated in many of the photographic essays. I was drawn to a red and ornate Victorian door connected to the words, "Paint it Black," wondering what else it could mean to someone who has spent time behind an ugly door they could not open besides a reference to the great Rolling Stones tune. The photo is connected by yarn to the title for that group, "Make Change."

In the "Pay it Back" section is a shot of an already closed café on Barton Street, Pay it Forward. The hand printed description highlights the need for access to good food in this part of town. "It provides fresh fruit and produce in my neighbourhood. I live in a poor area of the city that needs inexpensive food." It also says to me, this is a man who sees himself connected to community.

The exhibition lets in a little light on what might be needed in order to integrate men with criminal records into community life. Integrate or reintegrate?

In a 2007 report, 'The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention,' Public Safety Canada cautions the reader about the use of the word "reintegration" in this context, "as it should be obvious that, in many instances, the offenders were not prior to their incarceration, successfully integrated into the community."

One section of the mural features the photo of a sticker that says, "Lives Lost to Suicide — RIP." It is connected to two short phrases that may provide the answer to how integration for these guys will come about: "Some People do Care" and "All it takes is Compassion."

Deirdre Pike is a freelance columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. Her columns appear every other Saturday. “Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men,” will be on display at Evergreen for two weeks including the October ArtCrawl. Write dpikeatthespec@gmail.com or @deirdrepike for more information.

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PIKE: Photos give voice to most marginalized men

"Do you know how to use a 35 mm camera?" It was a logical question to be asked given I was interviewing to be a newspaper reporter with the Hanover Post and my schooling had been in radio broadcasting.

I didn't want to lie but the truth wouldn't land me the job so I responded, likely with an accompanying knee-slap, "My Uncle Jack is a cameraman with CFPL and before that he was a photographer with the London Free Press so if I don't know how to use a 35 mm camera I'll be a big disappointment to him!" Insert a little nervous laughter here and bam — job in hand.

During my first weekend assignment, I was taking shots of the boy scout paper drive after having covered a couple of riveting events the night before when all of a sudden my film wouldn't advance. Seemed kind of jammed so I flipped open the back, exposing the film and possibly the truth I'd hidden in my interview. Thankfully a fellow reporter, Mike "Scoop" Turner, worked some dark room magic to save my burgeoning career.

Decades later I can wield the camera in my iPhone quite deftly and often print some of the better photos to use in my journal with one or two lines of text capturing a piece of my story as I motor through this wild ride of life itself.

Last week, I found a display of pictures and captions downtown trying to do the same thing but from a perspective very different from mine. The photos had all been taken by men in Hamilton who have one thing in common. Each of them has a criminal record.

Using a community-based research method, Photovoice, the men were given cameras to capture something that would give others "a glimpse into what daily life is like and what gives meaning to these men," as the project description notes.

The Evergreen Community Storefront at 294 James Street North, a dynamic (and free!) space for neighbourhood consultations, community meetings, events and cultural use is where the project, "Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men," has been curated through a group process led by Stephanie Zubriski, as part of her Master's degree in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.

A mural of felt provides the background to the snapshots with accompanying words from both individual and collective stories, some as short as two words like, "Pretty, Ugly," depicting a robust community garden in the foreground and the confining, red walls of the Barton Street jail threatening captivity behind.

The creativity, and often wit, of the men is illustrated in many of the photographic essays. I was drawn to a red and ornate Victorian door connected to the words, "Paint it Black," wondering what else it could mean to someone who has spent time behind an ugly door they could not open besides a reference to the great Rolling Stones tune. The photo is connected by yarn to the title for that group, "Make Change."

In the "Pay it Back" section is a shot of an already closed café on Barton Street, Pay it Forward. The hand printed description highlights the need for access to good food in this part of town. "It provides fresh fruit and produce in my neighbourhood. I live in a poor area of the city that needs inexpensive food." It also says to me, this is a man who sees himself connected to community.

The exhibition lets in a little light on what might be needed in order to integrate men with criminal records into community life. Integrate or reintegrate?

In a 2007 report, 'The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention,' Public Safety Canada cautions the reader about the use of the word "reintegration" in this context, "as it should be obvious that, in many instances, the offenders were not prior to their incarceration, successfully integrated into the community."

One section of the mural features the photo of a sticker that says, "Lives Lost to Suicide — RIP." It is connected to two short phrases that may provide the answer to how integration for these guys will come about: "Some People do Care" and "All it takes is Compassion."

Deirdre Pike is a freelance columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. Her columns appear every other Saturday. “Our Day-to-Day: Stories of Labelled Men,” will be on display at Evergreen for two weeks including the October ArtCrawl. Write dpikeatthespec@gmail.com or @deirdrepike for more information.